I don’t think this is a strange idea , actually, I think the strange thing is the opposite, millions of people spending their entire lives without having any connection with the land that feeds them.
A small piece of land can be much more powerful than people imagine., you don’t need a huge farm to create something meaningful, a small plot can produce a surprising variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, medicinal plants, flowers and trees. It can become a small ecosystem instead of just another empty space.
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Why don’t countries give every citizen access to a small piece of land? Not a luxury property, not a speculative asset, just a place that belongs to them, where they can grow food, plant trees, learn, experiment and create something productive.
If someone wanted to build a home there, maybe the exchange could be based not only on money, but also on contribution. A builder helps with construction. An engineer helps with infrastructure. A farmer shares agricultural knowledge, a coder helps with digital systems... not forced labour, a voluntary exchange of skills that creates stronger communities.
Humans have organized societies around land for thousands of years. There are historical examples of land distributions, homesteading systems and agricultural communities. So the question is not whether humans are capable of doing it.
The question is: why did we move so far away from it? Maybe many people would still choose the city, some people genuinely prefer living surrounded by concrete, noise and convenience, but I don’t think everyone would. I know I wouldn’t choose a life completely disconnected from nature, depending on everything coming from anonymous systems and packaged products.
A small piece of land is not just about food, it is about having something real that cannot be easily taken away, and maybe that is exactly why access to land has always been such a powerful thing throughout history, because a person who can produce something for themselves is a little harder to control. Has any country ever tried something similar at scale? And if not, is the obstacle really economic… or is it that truly independent citizens are harder to govern?
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What could easily be done, though, is allowing homesteading again. In most of the developed world, I believe homesteading is illegal (aside from special government programs).
You’re probably right, the idea is not really about governments giving land away, but about how we ended up in a world where almost every piece of land already belongs to someone, making it difficult for people to build a direct relationship with it. When I wrote the post, I was thinking more about homesteading: allowing people to turn unused land into something productive through work, responsibility and care, i’s interesting that for much of history this was a normal way of creating communities and wealth, while today in many places it has almost disappeared. I'll definitely look more into modern homesteading, it connects deeply with ideas like self-sufficiency, permaculture and personal sovereignty. Thanks for commenting ;)